On Thursday, February 29, 2024, the Smokehouse Creek Fire expanded beyond 404 686 ha (1 million acres) in Texas, marking it as the largest wildfire in the state’s history. The blaze, which also extended into Oklahoma, has claimed the lives of at least two individuals and continues to pose a significant threat to homes, cattle, and livelihoods in the Texas Panhandle.
This aerial view shows burned houses and structures across Fritch, Texas caused by the Windy Duece Fire on February 28, 2024. More than 100 homes were destroyed from Fritch to Borger, Texas.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire started on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Hutchinson County, Texas, amidst adverse weather conditions, and has rapidly grown over the next 2 days to the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a disaster in 60 counties in response to the wildfire, which has only been 3% contained.
A series of out-of-control wildfires swept through the Texas Panhandle on February 27 and 28, 2024, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, causing widespread power outages, and forcing the temporary shutdown of the Pantex Plant, a critical nuclear weapons facility. The disaster, affecting numerous homes and prompting a disaster declaration in 60 counties, saw the Smokehouse Creek Fire rapidly grow to Texas’ 2nd largest wildfire in history.
Destructive wildfires in Maui, Hawaii have claimed at least 80 lives in just a couple of days, as of late Friday (LT), August 11, 2023. This makes them the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since it joined the United States in 1959.
At least 36 people lost their lives to wildfires that engulfed Maui over the past couple of days. Fueled by the strong winds of distant Hurricane Dora, the fires have razed hundreds of structures in the historic town of Lahaina. A mass evacuation of people north of the town is in progress.
4 people have been killed and more than 100 structures destroyed as the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County’s Klamath National Forest, northern California rapidly spread into the state’s largest fire of the season.
Oak Fire started on July 22, 2022, in California’s Mariposa County and rapidly spread to more than 6 314 ha (15 603 acres) over the next 3 days. As of early July 25, it was 0% contained.
A wildfire that started on June 28, 2022, near North San Juan in the Rice’s Crossing area, Nevada County, California has already burned 200 ha (500 acres) of land and several structures. Evacuations were ordered for areas near Rice’s Crossing and Cranston roads.
Intense thunderstorms rolled through California, U.S. on June 22, 2022, producing more than 50 000 lightning strikes within 24 hours – the most in a single day since 2017. While the lightning strikes started multiple wildfires, one of them struck a woman and her two dogs killing them on the spot.
